The anxiolytic effects of resistance exercise

Abstract

Numerous studies have revealed the beneficial effects of regular exercise across a variety of mental health measures. Although a great deal of attention has been paid to the role of aerobic exercise, less is known about the role of resistance exercise (i.e., strength training) in mental health outcomes. Resistance exercise includes a broad group of procedures that evoke repeated muscle action against resistances above those encountered in daily life. A growing body of literature has identified anxiolytic effects of resistance exercise in human populations after both single-bout sessions and long-term training. This research has shown that resistance training at a low-to-moderate intensity (<70% 1 repetition maximum) produces the most reliable and robust decreases in anxiety. Importantly, anxiolytic effects have been observed across a diverse range of populations and dependent measures. These findings provide support for the use of resistance exercise in the clinical management of anxiety. Numerous studies have revealed a relationship between regular exercise and improvements in mental health, including increased cognition, mood, and general quality of life (Penedo and Dahn, 2005; Puetz et al., 2006). Although much of this research has examined the effects of aerobic exercise on mental health outcomes, resistance exercise (i.e., strength training) also produces many physiological and psychological benefits. In the only review of resistance exercise and mental health, increases in cognition, increases in self-esteem, and decreases in depression were noted across several randomized clinical trials (O'Connor et al., 2010). In addition to these effects, a growing body of evidence indicates that resistance exercise produces anxiolytic effects across a range of dependent measures, experimental procedures, and participant populations. © 2014 Strickland and Smith.